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Infinity Ward Pulls Modern Warfare 2 Video Amid Criticism
by Kris Graft [PC, Console/PC]
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November 2, 2009
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A viral video for Infinity Ward's upcoming Modern Warfare 2 was apparently intended to be a humorous take on the practice of grenade "spamming," but a questionable -- and to many, offensive -- use of the acronym "F.A.G.S." eventually led the studio to pull the promotion for the military-themed shooter.
The video, uploaded to YouTube and initially linked from the Twitter account of Infinity Ward creative strategist Robert Bowling, appears to use Modern Warfare 2's game engine to spoof a public service announcement against "grenade spam" -- or randomly tossing grenades in hopes of getting a cheap kill in an online game.
The viral video featured the voicework of Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels. "Be cool. Avoid random grenades," he said. "They're for pussies." Following his advice, his avatar is pelted with a slew of grenades, and he exclaims "What the fuck?" followed by all the grenades simultaneously exploding.
It's the parting message of the video that has caught the most heat from critics, as the words appearing on screen are "Funding Provided By: Fight Against Grenade Spam." Internet denizens immediately discerned the acronym "F.A.G.S."
The not-so-subtle use of the derogatory term almost instantly ignited criticisms from gamers and game journalists, who blogged and Tweeted about the promotion. Inevitably, two parties formed: the people who called the video out as being offensive, and those who accused critics of being too politically correct or oversensitive.
"People are overreacting," said one reader on Game Infomer's website. "This kind of language is used in plenty of blockbuster movies and other forms of media so I don't really understand why people make a big deal out of it. Some people need to stop taking everything they see so seriously."
One reader commenter on gaming blog Joystiq stated, "It's not so much the use of the term but the people they're using it for. It's not some clever or ironic joke designed to reclaim the word or somehow [to] turn it round on those who use it wrongly. It's aimed at the kids of [Xbox] Live who already scream it all over the place."
A reader on GayGamer.net said, "Regardless of how one feels about homophobic language in 'nonsexual' contexts, actually endorsing a term like that through an official video is something like the height of arrogance and insensitivity."
On Twitter, Infinity Ward's Bowling responded to the criticism: "I think it was more of a social commentary joke of that stereotype than it was a fist-bump of acceptance to it." An hour later, he was convinced that it was a good idea to take down the video. "I think the core gag is great, the end is a bit too far from the intent of the joke and can appreciate the concerns. Pulled." The video was up for less than two days. (Other YouTube users, however, have uploaded the video to their accounts.)
GayGamer.net writer "Dawdle" said following the canning of the video, "Despite all we hear about the industry 'growing up,' the majority reaction to something like this just reminds me that it's ruled by pubescent straight boys."
We've contacted Infinity Ward parent Activision for further comment, and will update this story accordingly with any new information.
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Certainly you wouldn't create a video that included an acronym offensive to, say, African Americans.
Why the would you do it to gays?
I would have never even payed attention to a funny MW2 vid, but one risque enough to warrant a news post on Gamasutra, well you have to wonder what all the fuss is about.
My personal opinion is that anyone who was offended by this little video ought to reflect on why they allowed themselves to be.
Have you ever played a game on Xbox Live? It's full of horrible teenagers shouting horrible hateful terms that would have (justifiably) driven my parents to throw away my game console if they'd heard me using them, if I had grown up with a game console. It's unpleasant and ugly and makes for a considerably worse online experience. A video like this is guaranteed to do nothing but validate those idiots' online behavior--after all, that kind of language is given a wink and a nod by the game's developer. And what's particularly ridiculous is that it isn't even a clever pun purely in the context of this video. It's just grasping for a feeble joke.
Infinity Ward has made some pretty classy and amazing videos for MW2, however this just indicates that not all PR is good PR.
I'm all for pushing the edges, but making a blatantly derogatory comment towards a single group that is already lambasted within the gaming community is not only idiotic, it's irresponsible.
@ Chris - you are 100% right.
I think that's a valid point to make if you really do have something to say about it. But to claim that you have to "read so far" into this video to notice something going on is a pretty amazing claim. Bowling's response indicates clearly it was a deliberate implication on Infinity Ward's part. It's hardly hidden deep in there.
People don't use words like fag by accident. They don't -- it's got way too much meaning to be tossed around without thinking. If it was something like "That's totally gay", well, that's still offensive (honestly! Having a term for part of your self-identity being used as a "really sucks" insult?), but it gets tossed around without people thinking about it. Fag isn't one of those. That means it was thrown in there on purpose -- as a nod to the standard "fanboy" diction, maybe, or, yeah, as a marketting technique.
I'm homosexual. I don't think I'd HAVE to be to be homosexual to be offended by this -- I'd like to think that anyone who spent a moment to step back and have sympathy would be. Anyway, I'm also a game designer (children's educational titles, mostly), and a hardcore gamer. That means, within my chosen community -- working in the job I adore and playing the games I adore -- I am constantly being insulted. Insulting, intended to injure language is constantly being used, and insulting and injurous concepts are constantly being presented. The "big insult" to fellow hardcore gamers is to insinuate they're gay. I mean, that's making them out to be the worst of the worst, the lowest of the low: fags. A video like this encourages that, on the hardcore gaming side. And on the development side? That sort of mindset, a *marketting ploy*? Taking a group which, like Peters pointed out, is already lambasted in the gaming community (for no "real" reason) and making something hurtful towards them a marketting ploy because it might give a few of the previous hardcore fanboys, given to using the "big insult", a grin?
Yeah. Okay. I'm offended. Is that really unbelievable? That I'd wake up, come in to work (at my gaming company), and seeing the gaming community once again not just insulting me and many of the people I care about, but treating it like it's totally absurd to be offended? Are you *serious*?
And let's not make inane comparisons between *imaginary* violence in a game and *real* hatred directed at *actual* people. The difference is entirely obvious.
As a society, that is what people want to play <--- bigger problem
term fag and frag used interchangeably <------ smaller problem
Sorry to be so callous, but sometimes things need to be put into perspective, your offense on such a cause (and again, I don't mean to belittle it, just stating my opinion) will put nary a dent in the sales of MW2, or bring to light the injustices you face daily. For that, I am truly sorry. Perhaps your time would be better spent on coining a phrase that will substitute the word "gay" for "that sucks/stinks."
I think the difference here is that people are discussing a localized incident versus an extremely broad trend. It's one thing to take an issue with millions of people wanting to play a game that essentially trivializes war, but that applies to so many games that I don't think it's fair to simply divert any discussion not about that topic as it pertains to one specific game. You are essentially saying any issue less grievous than the one you raise is not worthy of discussion.
And, by extension, since you yourself use Hitler as an analogy, it is like saying anyone lamenting any real-world tragedy less horrific than World War II or the holocaust needs to get some perspective. It's not an analogy I would make on my own, since obviously it's way out of scale with anything being discussed in this thread, but it's already been introduced at this point.
It may be true that what you say is cause for concern, and it may not be. But whether or not that is the case, there is still a separate issue here worthy of discussion surrounding Infinity Ward's casual and public legitimizing of a term a lot of us feel is used to tiresome and ugly effect in online gaming. At least the killing in online games is entirely virtual, whereas such language is regularly cast about in earnest.
Have you thought maybe being offended/hurt is less about thinking we can actually do anything to change it and more because, you know, it's hurtful? And maybe, if people actually cared about this (ha-ha), there'd be less of it? And maybe that's why the video was pulled -- because it was ultimately agreed that it would *encourage* already prevalent hurtful behavior?
If you're insulted, affect change where it matters. There's no reason to be angry at the video. It's like seeing a picture from the holocaust and trying to trick yourself into believing it didn't happen.
If it had been a derogatory female word, or something about teenagers would it be okay? If so, then you have no right to claim this is not okay. You have to hold the stance of being judgemental about all terminology whether it be race, sex, age, or sexual orientation, you can' just pick or choose your phrases.
Homosexuality is just one of the things that can have slanderous things said about it, but it's not near the only one in this fast communication internet world of ours.
Certain targets draw the attention of the wolves.
"Girly" people have not been historically and institutionally discriminated against by law and social conventions. I don't see how you can possibly not see the difference there.
And I don't know if you're just selectively blind on purpose, but there's been an ENORMOUS amount of controversy and discussion over the airport video. But to directly respond to your comment, nobody here is actually murdering people in the airport, whereas lots of people are likely to actually call people "fags" when playing games online. One is a fictional act, the other is unfortunately occurring in reality.
Good point. If it was meant to be funny, it's not really the same thing. Still, though, if you're watching war related stuff, you have to expect these sorts of things. I can tell you have some heightened sensitivity to this sort of thing, whereas I'm on the other side and I just don't give a shit. It's hard to tell since this is pretty hot, but I wonder what the general reaction to this video is.
P.S. the clip is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iWeL0DEA9I&feature=player_embedded. It's interesting to me that the didn't actually write "F.A.G.S" anywhere. They just wrote "Fight Against Grenade Spam" and everyone went crazy. It's like Arnold's "fuck you" letter (http://www.sfbg.com/blogs/politics/2009/10/arnold_to_sf_fuck_you.html), except Infinity Ward has validated it by taking the video down.
Not in the sense gay gamers will steer clear in huge numbers just because of one silly stunt, but more in the sense that a healthy chunk of people are not inclined to play with the stereotypical randoms spewing offensive language.
Activision and IW may not see eye to eye on many things, but they both are trying to grab a larger audience than the diehards - IW has been quite candid how accessibility is a high priority. This kind of stuff will just serve to deter people who may have been inclined to test the waters.
Thing is, with the Fight Against Grenade Spam, that was obviously not an error and they obviously didn't think their viewers were too stupid to get it, so it amounts to the same thing -- playing off the term. They admitted when criticism first rolled in that it was a deliberate joke -- so they expected people to get it. I don't think it's really any different from just putting the acronym, since the acronym was what they intended people to take away from it.
Sounds like criticism is generally divided between the same three groups you see with any discussion of these human rights/hate speech issues: "It's important to me and people should realize what they're doing is offensive!" (with some insulting of the other side often included, yeah), "I don't really care but wow people care a lot about this", and "You're too sensitive/looking for something to be offended about/I'm feeling judged by you judging me!"
Please give me some clarification. Do you need for this to be a hot topic of controversy? In making it so, what outcome would you like to see happen? More politically correct gaming, or better acceptance of homosexuality? I'm not gay (contrary to popular belief in COD and my proficient use of the grenade launcher), so for me, I say "Funny video", and to a large majority of players, they will probably laugh at the ad without any thought introspection. So I'd just like to know what the gaming community can do to address such concerns. Would an ad campaign by the gay community that said something along the lines of "noob is the new gay" solve the problem? I call others noob all the time, it hits the point home. They lack skill, they suck, they're noobs. I'd like to think, as a gaming community, we could come up with a solution without taking the fun out of what we do.
Your statement about immersiveness is well put. This video is definitely outside the bounds of Modern Warfare 2 world (especially with the terrible voice acting).
It's interesting to me that Infinity Ward could have probably avoided a lot of this awkward press if they had just kept their mouths shut when the people started saying "F.A.G.S?!?! What do you mean by that?!"
And ultimately, that's what I'd like to see happen. How? I don't know. I'd prefer that it didn't need to be a hot topic of controversy -- that homophobic dialogue and terminology wasn't so casual and "for the lolz", honestly, but if it is, I'd rather people talk about it, because I'd like to see people just coming to an understanding that it is a hurtful thing, and that it's not just that people (overall) are too sensitive. (Or if they seem sensitive, sometimes it's because that one small tap on the shoulder that they can shrug off is hit over and over every day until it becomes a raging bruise. *g*) I think -- naively, perhaps! I'll admit it, my premise might be far off here -- that the majority of people don't intend to be hurtful or upset others, and that's why "offensive" is used more than hurt, or upset, or anything else, because there are easier defenses against "I'm offending others" than against "I'm hurting others". I think this is why it's easier to say that other people are too sensitive and there's nothing inherently hateful in either the term or using the term, casually or not, in a "funny" way or a deliberately aggressive way or an insulting way. I think (again, possibly naively) very few people WANT to feel like they are engaging in/not stepping out against something they know is hurting specific others. Yeah, there are exceptions, and I don't mean to Pollyanna all over this thread. But I'd like it if people could be introspective when things like this come up -- it's why I tried to bring it personal, here. It's NOT a political goal to me, I'm NOT an interest group -- I'm a person, in the same job and hobby as you are, who's having a part of her identity/lifestyle/etc thrown around thoughtlessly or hurtfully -- for the lolz, for marketting, etc. And... honestly, I think to some extent, stripping away the anonymity of, oh, it's politics, might help drive that home.
I wish that something like an ad campaign could help, but my fear is that it WOULD read as political, taking the fun out of things, rather than trying to change things for a more positive gaming experience. I don't know what ultimately can be done to try to raise introspection. Ultimately, me posting here is probably more of a frustrating experience for myself than any actual situation-changing event. I don't know what to do on a broader level.
But it's also why I'm relieved that you took this and did think about it on that level. Thank you.
There is a very clear difference between "being made fun of", which can be done good-humouredly, and harassment and intimidation. The usage of the term "fag" amongst gamers is almost always the latter. And people do - and should! - have a right to be free from harassment and intimidation.
Also, I'm not really sure that anyone needs to "look" for a reason to be outraged, and I think it's ridiculous that you assume that the people who are offended are all part of a "minority group". The use of the term "fag" is meant as a way to harass, intimidate, and belittle people. Someone I know was viciously assaulted by several strangers a few years ago, and they told him that they were beating him because he "looked like a fag". People are beaten and even murdered for being (or even appearing) gay far too frequently. Look up the story of Matthew Sheppard for one of many sad examples. The usage of the term "fag" and the tone with which it is used are very much a part of those kinds of crime. Those crimes didn't happen in a vaccuum, they happen because of a culture-wide treatment of gay people that includes the frequent abusive use of words like fag and homo. That Infinity Ward has chosen to associate itself with that culture is appalling. No one needs to "look for a reason to be outraged"; the reasons are obvious and readily available.
Infinity Ward was attempting some form of marketing with this video. Anything made by a company poised to sale 12-14 million copies of a product would not be orchestrated without many head honchos being well informed. It timing is very suspect and it appears to have succeeded within the already internet-savvy gaming world.
In my opinion it was attempting to communicate to its target audience with terms already rampant on XboxLive and PSN. Unfortunately, I think even the teenagers are tired of the hateful way some people "play" and we adults are trained like professionals in the mute-player required steps. In Canada, we have public advertising campaigns explaining how using "gay" to mean something "bad" would be hurtful by replacing the term with someone's name (ie: That movie was so David). I can understand that the David's would disapprove.
When I discussed this with my wife she noted the video used the word "pussies" and wondered why no one was defending her? In a male-centric game industry are we still okay with equating lack of skill with being female? She made the point F.A.G.S was an acronym not displayed but "pussies" was clearly spoken.
In the end, this video was just not very clever in its humour but effective in offending more than one group. Which makes me see it as simply a marketing ploy by a company catering to its core, juvenile consumer in a game climate of aging gamers and games-as-an-artform flagbearers. As gamer I am disappointed how little we have moved forward.
I'm not sure if I should call you a racist, an educationist (not a real word either), an elitist, or some other -ist word of which I'm ignorant.
Can we still use bigot as the catch all? I get so confused these days.
That all said, Andre's comment was absurd. He doesn't get offended; fantastic! There are people that would get offended and it's ludicrous to suggest that those people are in the wrong for being so. I'd also love to hear what is hypocritical about the entirety of the gay rights movement.
But seriously, the vocal "outrage" that spurred the video's removal was from more than special interest groups. It appears that journalists as well as gamers in general found it offense.
Are we being too sensitive and politically correct about things in the media? In some cases, yes. Are we the better for hearing both sides of the issue? I think so. Are we still going to see people blindly throw grenades hoping for a lucky kill? Yep!
But here lies the problem, personal perception. One person would not be insulted in the least while another would be very hurt. Both people could be from the same classification yet one will see it in jest and another as a form of hate. How do we best serve them both? Is it hypocritical to believe we can?
If you are not offended, it might be because you aren't gay, or you aren't straight and interested in the social and legal rights of gay people. If you think it is similar to any other random mockery, then you are probably a part of the problem.
Homosexuals have been a repressed minority in even recent times, with hate crimes resulting in the beatings, humiliation, suicides, and deaths, all on the basis of hateful slurs like 'fag.' The reason you don't think it's insulting is because you have no experience in what it's like to go through your life experiencing this sort of casual hate, and you haven't heard horrible stories about people being beaten, raped, and killed. You haven't heard words like 'fag' being used not as a generic mockery, but as a radically hateful verbal attack, filled with very real malice. The same way racial slurs have been used in the past.
Do the players of games like Modern Warfare use terrible language? Yes. Is fag the worst of it? That would depend on your perspective. For many it is at least on par with racial slurs, for the above reasons.
The first important detail isn't whether or not an individual person finds it offensive. It's that a lot of people do, and for good reasons.
The second important detail is that IW, as a company producing material for public consumption, has a responsibility to society to not endorse, condone, or especially -use- slurs and hateful language. Not 'even though their fans do,' but -especially- because their fans do.
English is a living and changing language. If I were to call some of my friends, who are homosexual, fags, they would take offense and in a big way. It's the context that has "grown up" around that word. We've (Americans) made it this way by repeatedly using that word in a negative way. Not only that, people have used that word and followed it up with real actions that have very real consequences. There is a lot of be afraid of when a word like that (in our current day and age) is thrown around in "good humor".
That's why I think it's important that we DO take offense and be vocal. The real point is not that 50% of the population may think it was an off-hand comment not directly made towards a socially minority group but that someone would deliberately use a word like that, which IS used pick on them, at all. It teaches other people that's it OK to make yourself seem better at the expense of another.
I have a child that is not yet ready for school but it's not far away. I promise you that while they will learn what homosexuality is from me and what I think the outcome of it will be, they will never, ever learn to pick themselves up by tearing others down, this includes homosexuals. They will not learn from me that someone who practices homosexuality cannot be a good person who contributes greatly to society. But the chances of them learning that kind of opinion is high. The chances they will use hateful words against someone are probably slightly less.
How do we move forward in crafting a more understanding society? In my opinion we continue to be vocal for any kind of offense, it shouldn't matter if you're the one being hit or not. If it's something used in context in a game, book or movie, well, that's a different discussion.
I wasn't going to buy MW2 for obvious reasons, but even I weren't religious it made me angry enough to only buy this game second hand so they wouldn't get any of my money.
What I find interesting is the fact that no one else so much has batted an eye about him dropping the f-bomb.
you should be able to take a damn joke.